Claim for payment fails where claimants carried out works at their own risk (Hirst v Dunbar)

Table of contents

• What are the practical implications of this case?
• What was the background?
• What did the court decide?
• Was there a contract between the claimants and defendants?
• Was the claim time-barred?
• What sum was due?
• Case details

Article summary

Construction analysis: The Technology and Construction Court (TCC) dismissed the claimants’ claim for payment in respect of construction works, on the basis that they had never entered any contract with the defendants—rather, they had undertaken the works at their own risk. Further, the claimants’ action was time-barred: any right to payment would have accrued, at the latest, on completion of the works, which was more than six years before the action was raised.